Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The European legislator gets a step closer to the adoption of the regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure which is meant to boost the strategic infrastructures for the realisation of the internal energy market . The Permanent Representatives Committee gathering the Permanent Representatives to the Council have backed today, 30 November 2012, the agreement reached on 27 November 2012 with the European Parliament. Read the press release from the Council here . A detailed analysis will be posted on this blog.

Next week, on 3 December 2012 , the energy ministers of the EU Member States will hold a Council meeting. The following topics are on the agenda: 1 - adoption of Council conclusions on renewable energy . Based on the Communication "Renewable Energy: a major player in the European energy market" adopted in June 2012, the Council conclusions should set out as priorities:  * the opening of the internal electricity market , and notably: securing market arrangements for the integration of an increasing number of renewable electricity generators; assessing market distortions at national level "in close cooperation" with the Commission services * better market integration of RES , including non-binding guidance from the Commission on support schemes reform, and the phase-out of environmentally and economically harmful subsidies. * cooperation and trade , which cover, on the first hand an extended use of the cooperation mechanisms and with the active help...

On Monday 26 November 2012 opened the 18th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC) and the 8th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Doha, Qatar. The conference will last from 26 November to 7 December, the High Level Segment starting on 4 December. The website of COP18/CMP8 hosted by Qatar is http://www.cop18.qa/  The central issues of the conference will be reviewed on this blog. But before that, let's watch an excellent video from the Norwegian Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) , which  summarizes 20 years of climate change negotiations . Watch the video by clicking on the picture below or here . "The history of climate change negotiations in 83 seconds"

I would like to share on this blog a nice  infographic on the Carbon Management Industry  kindly sent by the London School on Business and Finance (LSBF) , MBA in Carbon Management . The infographic looks at three issues: the carbon management sector in general (with a focus on renewable energy); the job market ; the business opportunities . The infographic focuses on renewable energies and related investments as this has been the fast growing sector in carbon management during the last two decades. Thanks for sharing this, LSBF!

Directive 2012/27/EU  of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency has been published in today's official journal of the EU (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, p.1). It amends Directive 2009/125/EC establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products and Directive   2010/30/EU on indication by labelling and standard of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy related-products), and repeals Directive 2004/8/EC on the promotion of cogeneration and Directive 2006/32/EC on energy end-use efficiency and energy services. The text of the new directive is available HERE , and will be commented shortly on this blog.

The European Commission has announced the adoption of a new communication on the status of the internal energy market for 15 November 2012 .  According to the official information released, the Communication will: - assess the state of the internal energy market , with the politically endorsed goal of its completion by 2014 ; - identify the main forthcoming challenges ; - propose actions to improve the effective application of the third energy package ; - provide updated information on the European electricity and gas market covering the 27 Member States, and, also of particular interest, a description of Member States' investments in energy infrastructure (energy infrastructures having focused much of the efforts of the EU executive during the last two years). Watch the press conference on Thursday 15 on EbS. Picture credits: (C) European Union, 2012.

The European Commission adopted on 8 November 2012 a notice of initiation of an anti-subsidy proceeding related to solar panel and related key components imports from China (published in  OJ C 340 of 8.11.2012, p.13 ). China is the world's leader manufacturer of solar panels (around 65%), 80% of the Chinese production being allegedly exported to the EU market (approx. 21 billion Euros). The notice of initiation opens officially the phase of investigation of the case by the European Commission. The latter has assessed that there was enough convincing elements in the complaint brought on 26 September 2012 by the EU industry association ProSun to initiative an investigation pursuant to Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No 597/2009 of 11 June 2009 on protection against subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Commission (so-called "basic Regulation"). An anti-dumping investigation has been launched on 6 September 2012 in the same case base...